Lazuli - Harry Potter Fan Fiction (Draco Malfoy)

CHAPTER FOUR

Once I've recovered, Honey and Sophia drag me towards the Slytherin table, where people are laughing and talking, perhaps the loudest out of any of the four great tables. We pass the eldest students first, who are sat closest to the door. "Juliet!" I hear one of the boys shout. I give him a small smile, he's one of the Quidditch team substitutes, and continue on my way towards the empty spaces near the 5th year section. Pansy and Theodora are there, but we take care to sit as far away from them as possible. I look at the other students in my year that are already present; Blaise Zabini, Gregory Goyle, Vincent Crabbe, Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis, and of course, Draco Malfoy. Draco looks up when I take a seat between Blaise and Daphne, both of whom give me a smile. "Juliet! How are you?" Tracey drawls, flipping her dark hair over her broad shoulders. I watch the silver goblet in front of me slowing fill with pumpkin juice on its own. "I'm fine." I reply quietly, almost drowning in the awkwardness as Blaise clears his throat.

Before the summer, and more importantly, everything that happened with Cedric, Blaise and I had been what some people might call 'an item.' It's true, we spent a lot of time together and got on well, he took me to the Yule Ball and to Hogsmead a few times, but we broke up because I needed space after Cedric's death, and there's no way we would have been able to see each other over the summer, what with me being in Grimmauld Place and him spending the summer travelling with his mother. We hadn't even exchanged a letter, therefore this was our first meeting since we broke up.

"Juliet." He comments, twirling his wand around his long fingers. Blaise is handsome, with dark skin and high cheekbones, and deep, commanding eyes. Many girls have fallen and had their hearts broken by him. I sip the pumpkin juice and smile awkwardly. "Hello Blaise, good summer?" My voice nearly cracks with embarrassment. Blaise nods slowly, "yes, it was. My mother and I went to Australia, full of Muggles," he scoffs in disgust, then continues "but it was better than nothing I suppose."

Blaise's careless attitude about going on such a wonderful trip is typical of him, and many of my other Slytherin classmates. Whilst there are those of us who comes from regular backgrounds (Crabbe, Goyle, Honey, Pansy, Millicent and I), many of Slytherin's members are considerably well off, Sophia and Draco Malfoy included. Blaise however is possibly the richest of them all. His mother has married 7 times and all of her husbands died. It's most unfortunate, but you can't help but be slightly suspicious.

He doesn't bother to ask me about my summer as the last of the students trickle in. I notice Ron, Hermione and Harry amongst them, laughing as if they don't have a care in the world. There's a pang in my heart as I see Hermione say something and Ron burst out laughing. He always used to find my jokes funny.

Not anymore, I hiss to myself. When Harry turns to look my way, I give him a discreet smile, ignoring Ron completely when he glares at me. I wonder if they know about what Sirius and Remus asked me to do.

They're the last students to enter, sitting down at the Gryffindor table. I talk to Daphne for a bit, not about anything in particular, just how nice her new hairstyle looks. She seems pleased with the compliment and begins to drawl about how long it had taken her to decide, and how it had taken the hairdresser even longer to turn it the right shade of honey blonde.

The first years are brought in, trotting closely at Professor McGonagall's heels. They look so small in this giant room and with huge students around them, watching them with a sort of resigned interest. They reach the end of the room and I pretty much tune out after this point, only clapping politely when each student is sent to a house and a little more enthusiastically when we receive a new Slytherin.

Once the sorting is over, we start our great feast. It's the same food as every year, but I find myself still mesmerized by the perfectly warm soups in 10 different flavours, chicken legs that have been spiced just enough, steaming pots of carrots, broccoli, brussel sprouts, beans, peas, cauliflower cheese, parsnips and every vegetable you could think of. There's at least 5 or 6 varieties of potato; mashed potato, fried potato, chips, boiled potato, jacket potato, pototo mixed with other vegetables. The pies are the first things to disappear from the ever-refilling platters, with their perfectly crisp pastries that have been cooked for just long enough, filled with fresh beef, mushrooms, chicken and several other varieties. There's so much food that it would be impossible for me to even begin to describe it all.